Aaaaahh, To Sleep!

I have always been tired. It's seems like I have been tired for my entire life. I remember going to the Mesa summer musical in the Westwood auditorium and falling asleep. In high school, if anyone ever showed a film in class, I was out. This was loonngg before I had children. High school, college, always sleepy during the day and I could sleep like a log all night and it didn't seem to make a difference.
All those years of being a mother with young babies, pregnancies, illnesses, etc. I walked around like a zombie, just dying for a nap, eating too many carbs because I was sleepy. I woke up with the kids when I needed to, even became a light sleeper, but ooohhh sooo tired! Even went to the doctor who, of course, said, "You are a mother of young children, of course you are tired." Thanks, doc.
And poor Dave. No pillow talk. Either I zonked out watching tv or as soon as my head hit the pillow. Somewhere in the early years though, I started having a different problem. I would be sleepy all day long and then when it came time to sleep, I couldn't turn my head off. Pillow talk was put off for another reason. I would have to go through my routine and then go straight to bed. Any deviation, just the slightest, and I could count on being awake for 2 hours before finally turning off the talk in my head and falling asleep. His snoring didn't help much either.
On occasion, I would fall asleep just fine and then wake up in the middle of the night, sometimes with an intense dream, other times to Dave's snoring, and still others, I have no idea why I would wake.
The worst was after I broke my ankle. You would think that taking 2 percocet at a time would mean I slept rreeeallly well. Nope. Nights were awful. I couldn't shift around and get comfortable. I couldn't have anything covering my foot. I slept on top of the covers with a blanket over me so I could stick my foot out but I had to be on my back with my foot propped up on a pillow. And of course I hurt big time. Those were some long nights...
Now I fall asleep just fine most nights. In fact I fall asleep watching tv all the time and have to crochet in order to stay awake long enough to see the end of any show. I just can't stay asleep. This morning I woke up at 4 am. Sometimes I'll wake up but stay sleepy enough that I can fall back asleep but not this morning. For some reason, I was anxious about Alyssa brushing her teeth well with her palate expander and it woke me up enough that I knew I wasn't going to get any more sleep before the alarm went off at 5:30. Bummer! Not a good way to start the day. Dave suggested that maybe I could take a nap. Ha! Emma no longer naps which means neither do I. I tried putting a in movie in my bedroom so we could both relax but she kicked the bed the whole time. Sigh...
I've been meaning to go to the sleep lab for a couple of years now. Just haven't gotten around to it-too tired I guess! But I'm going to do it! I'm signing up for it and should get it done in a couple of weeks. Not too sure what to expect but it's a start. I just know that something's gotta give.

Sundays, A Day of Rest?

I'm still waiting for that day of rest thing...maybe someday but probably not! Well, maybe after church is restful on some Sundays, and I am very grateful for that.
Yesterday was a typical Sunday. I woke up in plenty of time and thought that I had a handle on things-got the crockpot going with a roast and veggies, kids got up on time, things are going well. Dave has early meetings every week but we are used to that what with 5 years as Bishop, many years with other leadership callings including high council.
And then it begins. Emma decides she doesn't want to go to church and is dressed in jeans. "I don't want to go to church! I want to stay home!" Even reminding her that she gets to give her first talk doesn't sway her. I finally get her dressed, Alyssa can't find any tights, Garrett, who has been dawdling all morning, realizes at the last minute that he can't find his white shirt. I am directing him where to look while trying to get myself ready and trying to figure out what Emma can do for her talk (oops, put that off too long). We are already late when we find the wrinkled shirt in the clean clothes basket (how long has it been in there?). He throws it on and runs out to the car. No coat and it's 28 degrees out. Meanwhile Dave has texted Diana to ask if we can feed the missionaries right after church. I look around the house with clean clothes strewn everywhere, dirty kitchen, not sure if we have enough food-nope not this week. I need more notice. We fly down the road, 10 minutes late-it takes us 25 minutes to get to church but we make it before the sacrament. Of course, Emma needs to use the bathroom halfway through the sacrament and you just don't tell a 3-year-old to wait. We are washing our hands when someone comes in and says that the priesthood is waiting for us to have the water. (We are in a branch-they notice everything) Oooops!
Sacrament meeting is pretty typical. I am alternately either a desk or a chair. Actually, Emma is getting a lot better but she still doesn't know how to whisper.
I finish the talk for Emma, and we have a presidency meeting while the kids are all in class. Then I conduct closing exercises, Emma enjoys giving her talk, and I also play the piano for singing time. At least this week I didn't have to do sharing time too like I did last week!
We are always ready to go home afterward. Dave had a meeting after church-it's a good thing I said no about feeding the missionaries. We finally make it home! I enjoy our church meetings and I like being in Primary but it always feels good to get home. Thank goodness for crockpots! We had a nice dinner, and then collapsed. The kids and I watched Masterpiece theater's version of Kidnapped while Dave went home teaching, we had a nice talk with Andrea, I finished reading my book, it was a nice relaxing afternoon and evening.
Aaaaah, Sundays!

Alyssa's Baptism

Alyssa was baptized on Sunday, February 15th. She had a beautiful baptism, very sweet and spiritual! She didn't seem nervous at all, just happy and excited about it.

Jenna had flown in on Friday for it and we are so happy that she came! She helped pick out Alyssa's new dress, and she also got to go scout out an apartment for when she and Chris move here in August. It was very nice of her to come especially since she missed having Valentine's Day with Chris:(

Alyssa was baptized in the same outfit that all the girls except Jenna have worn. She did not swim in the font as she said she wanted to:) Diana gave the baptismal talk and did a wonderful job. Brother Silvia, our home teacher, gave the talk on the Holy Ghost and he also did a wonderful job. Jenna played her flute and I accompanied her on the piano and afterward we had a very nice potluck dinner with everyone who came. We had a pretty good crowd and lots of yummy food (we have some very good cooks in the branch).

All in all, it was a very special day and we are very happy for our sweet girl!

Emma's favorite outfit

This is it-Emma's very favorite outfit (along with her ladybug costume). If it is clean, she is wearing it, and maybe sometimes even if it isn't clean! Yes, I know it could be worse (Alyssa wore a skirt with big flowers all over it and a striped polo to church last week, Yikes!) but I do wish she would wear some of her other clothes sometimes!

Happy Birthday, Alyssa!

Today is Alyssa's 8th birthday! I told her that the whole school district is celebrating her birthday and even took a day off in celebration. Actually we are having a snow day. She got to have control of the tv and video games today and do whatever she wants to do (within reason). Tonight we had taco salad, cake and ice cream and opened her gifts. She got a BYU t-shirt and socks and a couple of DS games. Saturday we will be having a party for her at a bowling alley. She is looking forward to being baptized in a couple of weeks and thinks that she will be able to swim in the font. We love this girl!